With the Help of a Fool
by Kurozakura
Summary: Have you ever noticed how tantalizing easy it is to prevent the tragic ending of Romeo and Juliet? I cast the play with characters from Naruto and use a fool to turn the tragic love story into a comedy of errors. [Sasuke x Hinata, Neji x Sakura in Ch5]
1. Prologue

Prologue

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Have you ever noticed how tantalizingly close Romeo and Juliet is to being a comedy? Unlike the classic tragedies like Hamlet and Macbeth, the plot devices and characters in Romeo and Juliet more closely resemble those in comedies like Much Ado About Nothing. Many have speculated on the rather uncreative use of a Wise Fool who either in his absence allows grievous miscommunication to continue or by his presence resolves the problems. Here, I present to you my own version of R+J with the addition of a Wise Fool.

**If all of this is starting to scare you from reading my story, I beg you, gentle Reader, to continue. This story will be able to stand alone regardless of how familiar you are with Shakespeare or whether or not you enjoy reading his works.**

I set the stage in Konoha and cast the story with our favorite characters from Naruto.

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Disclaimer: Sadly enough, Naruto and the characters do not belong to me, and I do not make a profit from this story. On the other hand, at least all of Shakespeare's works are no longer copyrighted.

Text in italics are direct quotes from the Bard himself.

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_Two households, both alike in dignity,_

_In fair _Konoha_, where we lay our scene,_

_From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,_

_Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean._

Where once a tragic love had taken place,

There is a fool with which to smooth the lies,

To take a tangled weave of prideful lace,

And bring together ancient rival eyes.


	2. Act I

(AN) I must admit, I felt all the Naruto characters fit their Shakespearian roles _except_ for the title characters. In fact, I'm not a huge fan of the pairing, and they're both OOC. But they were the best logistical choices and everything else fell perfectly into place around them, so I kept it as it is. I've always liked Mercutio and Benvolio and the Nurse more than R+J anyway!

I greatly appreciate any and all reviews be they good or bad. **Even if you get halfway through and decide not to read the rest, please let me know why you decided to stop.** I'm especially curious to hear your reaction to using the Shakespearian dialogue. I worry that this was not the best forum for this story. Thanks much! (/AN)

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Act I, Scene i

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The streets of Konoha were crowded despite the oppressive heat that had plagued the city for weeks. It seemed the air began to simmer even before the sun arose. Akamaru's tongue lolled from the corner of his mouth as he followed close on the heels of Kiba, who was in a particularly volatile mood.

"If luck allows, we'll come across an Uchiha today," Kiba said, bearing his sharp teeth. "_I strike quickly, being moved_."

"_But thou art not quickly moved to strike_," Shino replied in an even voice. Despite the heat, he still wore a hood that covered most of his face.

"_A dog of the house of _Uchiha _moves me_," Kiba growled, shadowboxing as they continued down the street.

"_To move is to stir, and to be valiant is to stand. Therefore, if thou art moved, thou runn'st away_," Shino pointed out. As always, his voice was expressionless and his face was unreadable behind tinted glasses.

"_A dog of that house shall move me to stand. I will take the wall of any man or maid of _Uchiha."

"_That shows thee a weak _friend; _for the weakest goes to the wall_," said Shino, though to be honest he wouldn't have minded a fight that morning. It would be beneficial for the Hyuuga clan if the Uchiha ranks could be thinned a bit.

"_True, and therefore women, being the weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall. Therefore I will push _Uchiha's_ men from the wall and thrust his maids to the wall_," Kiba laughed and made rude pumping gestures with his hips. "_When I have fought with the men, I will be cruel with the maids and cut off their heads_."

"_The heads of the maids_?" Shino asked. Inside, he was wondering what Kiba's sister would do to Kiba if she heard him speak like this.

"_Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads; take it in what sense thou wilt_," Kiba replied with a smirk and a shrug. "_Me they shall feel while I am able to stand, and 'tis known I am a pretty piece of flesh_."

Shino didn't reply, but he stopped walking abruptly. "_Draw thy tool. Here comes two _friends_ of the house of _Uchiha."

"_My naked weapon is out. Quarrel, I will back thee_," Kiba said, placing a hand on Akamaru's neck.

"_How! Turn thy back and run_?" Shino asked with the first hint of sarcasm.

Kiba pretended not to hear the insult, "_Let us take the law of our sides. Let them begin. I will bite my thumb at them, which is a disgrace to them if they bear it_."

Ino stopped walking and put a restraining hand on Shikamaru's arm. The crowd continued to flow around the four figures. "_Do you bite your thumb at us_?" Ino asked with incredulity.

"_I do bite my thumb_," Kiba replied casually.

"_Do you bite your thumb at us_?" Ino demanded again, hands flying to her hips.

"_Is the law of our side if I say ay_?" Kiba asked out of the corner of his mouth.

"_No,_" said Shino.

"_No, I do not bite my thumb at you, but I bite my thumb_," Kiba told Ino with his teeth bared in a smile.

"_Do you quarrel?_" Shino asked quietly.

"_Quarrel! No,_" Ino replied with a touch of hesitation. She looked back and forth between the two figures - one leering openly with insolence and the other as steady and tense as a bowstring.

"_If you do, I am for you. I serve as good a _family_ as you_," Kiba said, advancing slowly.

Ino stood her ground. "_No better_," she shot back.

"_Say better. Here comes one of _our teammate's _kinsmen_," Shino whispered to Kiba. He had noticed a dark-haired boy approaching from down the street.

"_Yes, better_," Kiba said to Ino with excessive smugness.

"_You lie_," hissed Ino.

"_Draw, if you be _shinobi," Kiba said with anticipation gleaming in his eyes.

Ino immediately took a kunai from her holster. She nudged Shikamaru, who had been staring at the sky through the whole discourse, and he took out two trench knives.

Kiba released his hold on Akamaru's neck and drew a kunai, and Shino held his arms straight out as the sound of buzzing grew louder.

The civilians in the street saw the weapons and immediately began rushing away from the four figures. There were some screams and hollers as people were knocked down in the haste, but the shinobi paid no notice.

Kiba charged at Shikamaru on all fours, and Akamaru jumped onto Kiba's back. Shikamaru threw one trench knife at Kiba's shadow and managed to freeze Kiba in place, but Akamaru leaped from Kiba's back towards Shikamaru's throat.

Meanwhile, Ino was freaking out at the swarm of bugs that surrounded her. She reached into her belt pouch and pulled out two smoke bombs. While the smoke dulled the insects' senses, she attacked Shino with her kunai.

Before the fight could progress much further, six orange-clad figures jumped down from the roof above and landed on the shinobi fighting on the street. "_Part, fools! Put up your _weapons; _you know not what you do_," said the sixth figure, who was standing in front of the four shinobi. Each had a clone standing with a kunai at his or her throat. The dog was held by the scruff on its neck and pinned to the ground.

Ino opened her mouth angrily, but at that moment Neji appeared in the now empty street. "_What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds? Turn thee, _Naruto, _look upon thy death_." He assumed his Juuken stance.

"_I do but keep the peace_," Naruto protested. His clones disappeared in puffs of smoke, but he did not sheath his kunai. "_Part these men with me_."

"_What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word as I hate hell, all Uchiha, and thee. Have at thee, coward!_" Neji spat before launching himself at Naruto. Before he could take ten steps, however, Ino halted his attack with a handful of shuriken. Neji turned towards her with a withering glare.

Across the street, Akamaru growled viciously and attacked Shikamaru from behind. The shadow master managed to stop the lunging beast with a kick but paid for it when Kiba attacked with a kunai in each hand. Shikamaru blocked one thrust but could not dodge completely and was hit in the shoulder.

Oblivious to all this, Naruto darted into the middle of the street and produced three more clones. One began preparing a ball of chakra in his hand while the other two acted as shields against the swarming insects. Finally, he was ready, and Naruto took off running towards the hooded shinobi.

Before he could reach Shino, however, a great explosion shook the ground, and dirt and stones were thrown into the air as a giant crack split down the center of the street. "Halt!" shouted the Godaime from where she knelt with her fist in the ground. "Stop fighting this instant! _On pain of torture, throw your mistemper'd weapons to the ground_!"

The six shinobi backed slowly away from each other, kunai and shuriken falling from raised hands.

"_Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word, have thrice disurb'd the quiet of our streets. If ever you disturb our streets again, your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace._" Her icy glare fixed each ninja in turn._ "Once more, on pain of death, all men depart_." With a sweep of her hand, the shinobi disappeared without another word.

Departing from the scene of the brawl, Naruto continued on his way towards his team's training ground. He had been hoping to find his teammates before he was distracted by the sounds of fighting earlier. Almost immediately, a dark-robed figure fell into step beside him.

"_Who set this ancient quarrel new abroach_?" Itachi asked softly. "_Were you by when it began_?"

"_Here were the _friends_ of your adversary and yours close fighting ere I did approach. I drew to part them; in the instant came the fiery _Neji," Naruto told him. "Tsunade-baa-chan arrived soon after."

"_Where is _Sasuke? _Saw you him today_?" Itachi inquired, changing the subject.

"_Early walking did I see your _brother: _Towards him I made, but he was ware of me, and stole into the covert of the wood_," Naruto replied.

"_Many a morning hath he there been seen, but all so soon as the sun should in the furthest east begin to draw the shady curtains from Aurora's bed, away from light steals home my _brother_, and private in his chamber pens himself. Could we but learn from whence his sorrows grow, we would willingly give cure_," Itachi said as they approached the training grounds.

"_I'll know his grievance or be much denied_," Naruto told him reassuringly.

Itachi merely nodded before turning lightly on his feet and returning to the city. Naruto continued on alone. Soon he reached a small clearing with several sparring posts. A figure sat in front of the center post with his legs bent in front of him and his head resting against the wood.

"_Good morrow_!" Naruto greeted him.

"_Is the day so young_?" Sasuke asked tiredly.

"_But new struck nine_," Naruto told him.

Sasuke sighed, "_Sad hours seem long_."

"_What sadness lengthens _Sasuke's_ hours_?" Naruto asked as he sat down next to one of the other posts.

"_Not having that which, having, makes them short_," Sasuke said, staring at the sky.

Naruto raised his eyebrow. "_In love_?"

"_Out._"

"_Of love_?" Naruto prodded.

"_Out of her favour where I am in love_," Sasuke said standing up and stretching.

"_Tell me in sadness who is that you love_," Naruto said with a foxy grin.

Sasuke looked at him and rolled his eyes before sighing yet again. "_She hath Dian's wit. She will not stay the siege of loving terms, nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes, nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold_."

"_Then she hath sworn that she will still live chaste_?"

"_She hath, and in that sparing makes huge waste_," Sasuke said sulkily. "_She hath forsworn to love_."

Naruto stood up to swing an arm over the dark-haired boy's shoulder, "_Be rul'd by me, forget to think of her_."

"_O, teach me how I should forget to think_," Sasuke replied sarcastically, pushing Naruto's arm away.

Naruto was not discouraged. "_By giving liberty unto thine eyes; examine other beauties_."

Sasuke stared at him from the corner of his eye. "_'Tis the way to call hers, exquisite, in the question more._ _Farwell: thou canst not teach me to forget_," he said before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"_I'll pay that doctrine or else die in debt_," Naruto called out with determination.

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Scene ii

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Hyuuga Hiashi leaned back in his chair in the spacious dining room of the Golden Crane Inn. "_But _Uchiha_ is bound as well as I in penalty alike, and tis not hard, I think, to keep the peace._"

"_Of honourable reckoning are you both,_" Lee said diplomatically. "_And pity 'tis you liv'd at odds so long. But now, my lord, what say you to my suit_?"

"_By saying o'er what I have said before_," Hiashi said with a wave of his hand. "_My child is yet a stranger in the world; she hath not seen the change of _eighteen_ years. Let two more summers wither in their pride ere we may think her ripe to be a bride_."

"_Younger than she are happy mothers made_," Lee pointed out.

"_And too soon marr'd are those so early made. But woo her, get her heart, my will to her consent is but a part. This night I hold a feast whereto I have invited many a guest. Come, go with me_," Hiashi said as he stood and led the younger man back out onto the street.

Sasuke passed the door to the inn seconds before the two men emerged and walked in the opposite direction. He felt someone move quickly behind him, and he whirled around while throwing two two kunai.

"_Why, _Sasuke_, art thou mad_?" Naruto teased as he caught the first kunai and used it to deflect the second.

"You again?" Sasuke muttered before turning his back on his friend and continuing to walk down the street

"Yes, but this time I am sure you are glad to see me," Naruto crowed as he took three long steps to stand in front of the sulking Uchiha. He held a small scroll open in front of Sasuke's face. "Read."

Sasuke scanned the paper quickly before pushing it aside and asking, "So what?"

"This, my dear friend, is a list of invitees for a masquerade tonight. _At this same ancient feast of _Hyuuga_ sups the fair _Tenten_ whom thou so lov'st. Go thither, and with unattainted eye compare her face with some that I shall show, and I will make thee think thy swan a crow_." Naruto did a little caper.

Sasuke was unimpressed. "_When the devout religion of mine eye maintains such falsehood, then turn tears to fires. One fairer than my love! The all-seeing sun ne'er saw her match since first the world begun_."

He started walking again, but Naruto did not give up easily. "_Tut, you saw her fair, none else being by, herself pois'd with herself in either eye. But in that crystal scales let there be weigh'd your lady's love against some other maid that I will show you, and she shall scant show well that now shows best_," he said confidently as he bounced alongside his friend.

Sasuke stopped walking and looked at the blonde. Naruto's eyes were scrunched up with determination, and his mouth was tightened in conviction. "Fine," Sasuke sighed. "_I'll go along_."

Naruto did another dance and had an excited one-sided conversation all the way back to the Uchiha house.

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Scene iii

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Hinata was sitting in the garden of the main house reading a book when through the open windows she heard scampering footsteps.

"Hinata!" a young girl called from inside.

"_How now, who calls_?" Hinata asked, though it was obvious by the high pitch of the voice.

"Our father," Hanabi said breathlessly through the open door. Hinata scrambled to her feet as Hiashi walked regally out into the garden.

"Sir, _I am here. What is your will_?" Hinata asked meekly.

"_Marry is the very I came to talk of,_" Hiasha said without preamble. "_Tell me, daughter, how stands your disposition to be married_?"

Hinata was shocked at the bluntness of the question. "_It is an honour that I dream not of_," she said carefully.

"_Well, think of marriage now. Younger than you, here in _Konoha_, ladies of esteem are made already mothers._" When Hinata did not immediately reply, he went on, "_The valiant _Rock Lee _seeks you for his love_."

"_A man, _Hinata!" squealed Hanabi. "_Such a man as all the world_!"

"_What say you? Can you love the gentleman_?" Hiashi asked gently. "_This night you shall behold him at our feast. _He is a man of virtue, and _so shall you share all that he doth possess, by having him, making yourself no less._"

"_No less! Nay, bigger. Women grow by men_," Hanabi whispered to her sister with a nudge.

Hinata blushed at the younger girl's words. "_I'll look to like, if looking liking move. But no more deep will I endart mine eye than your consent gives strength to make it fly_," Hinata told her father.

Hiashi studied his daughter for a moment before turning to walk back into the house. "You girls should prepare for the feast tonight."

"Yes, father," the girls replied together.

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Scene iv

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Sakura idly swung her mask around as she stood in the empty square near the road leading to the Hyuuga house. She wore a simple black dress with silk laces crisscrossing the bodice, and her white porcelain mask was accented with red paint. Out of the corner of her eye, she studied her teammate sitting on the edge of the white granite fountain.

Sasuke was brooding again, and Sakura knew it was because of the girl he was obsessing about. The perfect, beautiful, better-than-a-goddess Tenten. Sakura felt the bile rising in her throat again. She had bought this dress with Sasuke in mind, but he hadn't even glanced twice at her while they waited for Naruto to arrive. In fact, he hadn't even said two words to her.

"Let's get this over with," Sasuke said as Naruto finally approached the square. "I hope you don't plan on spending all night there."

Naruto grinned widely. "_Let them measure us by what they will. We'll measure them a measure, and be gone_."

Sasuke stood and began walking towards the Hyuuga district, knowing the others would follow on his heels. "_Give me a torch, I am not for this ambling. Being but heavy, I will bear the light_."

Sakura forced her self to smile, though it only touched her lips. "_Nay, _Sasuke-kun_, we must have you dance_."

"_Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes with nimble soles. I have a soul of lead so stakes me to the ground I cannot move_," he replied without turning towards her.

"_You are a lover_," Sakura said with just a touch of mockery. "_Borrow Cupid's wings and soar with them above a common bound_."

"_I am too sore enpierced with his shaft to soar with his light feathers. Under love's heavy burden do I sink_," Sasuke sulked.

'What the hell do you know about love's burden,' Sakura thought to herself. Out loud, she said, "_And to sink in it should you burden love - too great oppression for a tender thing._"

"_Is love a tender thing_?" Sasuke asked with a short, barking laugh. "_It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn._"

Sakura was annoyed. "_If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down_." She brought her mask to her face and tied the strings. It covered only the top half of her face, but it would be more than enough disguise. No one would be looking closely at a masquerade like this anyway. Her teammates secured their own masks before stepping into the lights around the Hyuuga house.

"_Come, knock and enter. And no sooner in but every man betake him to his legs_," Naruto said. He wore a fox-eyed mask with orange accents.

"_Let wantons, light of heart, tickle the senseless rushes with their heels. I'll be a candle-holder and look on_," Sasuke said, making sure his friends knew just how much he didn't want to be there.

Sakura rounded on him in exasperation. "_If thou art dun, we'll draw thee from the mire of this sir-reverence love, wherein thou stick'st up to the ears. Come, we waste our lights in vain, like lamps by day._"

"_And we mean well in going to this mask, but 'tis no wit to go_," Sasuke said stubbornly.

"_Why, may one ask_?" Sakura asked, tapping her foot.

"_I dreamt a dream tonight_," Sasuke said.

"_And so did I_," Sakura said with exasperation.

"_Well, what was yours_?" Sasuke asked.

"_That dreamers often lie_," Sakura said cynically.

"_In bed asleep, while they do dream things true_," Sasuke said. He was peering off into the shadows as if seeing something that was not there.

Something inside Sakura snapped. "_O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you. She is the fairies' midwife and she comes in shape no bigger than an agate stone on the fore-finger of an alderman, drawn with a team of little atomies athwart men's noses as they lie asleep._"

The pitch of her voice rose. How dare he sulk and mope about love while she sits and smiles at every sling and arrow thrown at her. As if she didn't suffer from unrequited love, too! "_Her chariot is an empty hazel nut, and in this state she gallops night by night through lovers' brains, and they dream of love. O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees. O'er ladies' lips, who straight on kisses dream. Sometimes she gallops o'er a soldier's neck, and then dreams he of cutting foreign throats, and then anon drum in his ear, at which he starts and wakes. And, being thus frighted, swears a prayer or two and sleeps again. This is that very Mab – this is she…_"

"_Peace, _Sakura," Sasuke said softly, and only then did she realize how loud she had been talking. Shrieking, almost. "_Thou talk'st of nothing_."

She calmed herself with a few deep breaths. "_True, I talk of dreams, which are the children of an idle brain begot of nothing but vain fantasy, which is as thin of substance as the air and more inconstant than the wind._"

"_Supper is done, and we shall come too late_," Naruto said, breaking into the awkward silence.

"_I fear, too early_," said Sasuke. "_For my mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars._"

No one said another word as they finally entered the house.

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Scene v

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The main hall of the Hyuuga household had been converted into a grand scene with elaborate lighting and decorations. A small orchestra sat in one corner and was currently playing an upbeat dancing song. The crowd overwhelmed the senses with all the bright colored clothing, pungent smoke from tobacco and cooking, sweat and heat from so many bodies, and noise from a hundred conversations.

With everyone wearing masks, Hiashi greeted Sasuke and his friends without hesitation or reserve. "_You are welcome, gentlemen! Come, musicians play. Give room and foot it, girls_."

With a last glance at Sasuke, Sakura allowed herself to be drawn into the dancing. Naruto turned to his teammate. "And now, it is time to weigh the scales. Find your sun-lightened goddess, and I will find a diamond for your coal." He disappeared into the crowd.

Several people bumped into Sasuke amidst the dancing and laughing, and he decided to find someplace he could sit and watch in peace. There was an area with tables and chairs for eating, though most of the guests had finished supper and were adding to the crush of bodies mingling around aimlessly.

He sat down heavily and pulled his mask off. This whole idea was stupid. So far, there had been no sign of Tenten. He threw his mask on the table and scanned the faces in the crowd once again. Suddenly, his breath hitched.

He caught the sleeve of one of the serving men who was clearing the tables. "_What lady's that_?" he asked breathlessly.

The man tried to look where Sasuke was pointing, but nearly lost the precarious balance of his pile of plates. "_I know not, sir_," he answered before hurrying off towards the kitchens.

"_O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright_," Sasuke breathed. "_It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night like a rich jewel_."

Across the room stood two girls on the edge of the crowd. The older of the two wore a lavender dress that was cut very modestly, but still clung to every nuance. Delicate falls of silk brushed the creamy white skin on her arms and around her throat. Whereas Ino was thin and Sakura was bony, this girl was all soft curves. Silver feathers brushed her blushing cheeks, which made the porcelain of her mask look dingy and old in contrast.

Sasuke could not tear his eyes away. "_Did my heart love til now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty til this night_."

Across the room, a pair of silver eyes noticed the dark-haired boy sitting alone at the tables. "_This should be _an Uchica," Neji growled. "_What, dares the slave come hither to fleer and scorn at our solemnity? Now, by the stock and honour of my kin, to strike him dead I hold it not a sin_." He activated his bloodline and began walking towards where Sasuke had finally stood from his chair.

A heavy arm fell across Neji's shoulder. "_Why, how now, kinsman? Wherefore storm you so?_" Hiashi asked.

"_Uncle, this is _an Uchica_, our foe. A villain, that is hither come in spite to scorn at our solemnity this night_," Neji told him.

Hiashi squinted towards where Neji pointed. "_Young _Sasuke_ is it_?"

"'_Tis he, that villain_ Sasuke," Neji hissed and once again began walking towards the Uchiha.

Hiashi restrained his nephew gently. "_Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone. 'A bears him like a portly gentleman, and, to say the truth, _Konoha_ brags of him to be a virtuous and well-govern'd youth. I would not for all the wealth of all this town here in my hosue do him disparagement. Therefore be patient, take no note of him. Put off these frowns, an ill-beseeming semblance for a feast_."

"_It fits when such a villain is a guest. I'll not endure him_," Neji muttered defiantly. He turned again towards the tables, but the dark-eyed boy was gone.

Hiashi's fingers dug into Neji's arm, and Neji was spun around. "_He shall be endur'd_," Hiashi said sharply. "_I say he shall. Go to! Am I the master here, or you? Go to! You'll make a mutiny among my guests_."

"_Why, uncle, 'tis a shame_," Neji spat.

Hiashi stared at him coldly. "_You are a saucy boy. Is't so, indeed? I know what. You must contrary me! Be quiet, or I'll make you quiet_." With a final searching look, Hiashi left his newphew.

Neji, however, didn't even notice his uncle depart. A sharp pain flared between his eyes and his vision swam. He clutched his head and nearly doubled over. By the time Neji regained his bearings, neither his uncle nor that Uchiha were in sight. "_I will withdraw_," Neji whispered angrily. "_But this intrusion shall, now seeming sweet, convert to bitterest gall_." He turned on his heel and stalked out of the main hall.

Meanwhile, Sasuke remained unaware of the discovery of his identity. As he approached the two girls, the younger noticed him first and nudge the other. She whispered something behind a dainty hand and then darted off into the crowd.

When he finally reached the girl in lavender, she nodded her head slightly in greeting. Sasuke bowed in return and took her hand. "_If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss_." He turned her hand in his and kissed it gently.

"_Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much_," the girl said in a sweet voice as she pulled her hand away. "_For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss_." Her delicate hands were dwarfed as she pressed them against his callused palms.

"_Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too_?" he leaned closer to her. Her dark hair shone like sapphire in the dim lighting.

"_Ay, lips that they must use in prayer_," she said, taking a small step backwards. A pink blush stained her cheeks.

"_Dear saint, let lips do what hands do! They pray. Grant thou, lest faith turn to despair_," he moved his hand towards her mask so that he could look into her eyes.

"_Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake_," she said, taking another step backwards. Her heel brushed against the wall.

"_Then move not while my prayer's effect I take,_" he said huskily, placing one hand on the wall beside her head. With his other, he trailed his fingers along the feathers of her mask until they rested on her cheek. "_Thus from my lips, by thine my sin is purg'd_."

Sasuke didn't know what possessed him to approach this girl so boldly, but he did not hesitate to lean in and kiss her gently.

"_Then have my lips the sin that they have took_," she said breathily.

Sasuke couldn't tear his eyes away from her lips. "_Sin from my lips? Give me my sin again_." He kissed her once more, his hands sliding down her silk dress to rest lightly on her hips.

She pulled away slightly and whispered, "_You kiss by th' book_." Her breath was warm against his ear and he shivered. Before he could prove her words wrong, however, someone appeared beside them. It was the young girl who had been there earlier.

"Onee-chan, father_ craves a word with you_," the girl said.

The older girl pulled out of Sasuke's grasp, and with a small smile, she disappeared into the crowd.

Sasuke scowled at the interruption. "Who is her father?" he asked.

The girl seemed surprised. "Our father _is the _lord_ of the house. And a good _master_, and a wise and virtuous_." She gestured in the direction her sister had disappeared in. "_He that can lay hold her shall have the chinks_." The girl raised her mask, winked at Sasuke, and danced away with a childish laugh.

Sasuke stood fixed to the floor. The image of the gir's face was frozen in his mind. Those eyes… "_Is she a _Hyuuga?" he whispered to himself. "_My life is my foe's debt_."

He darted in the direction of the girls' departure and soon found himself in the main hallway. Naruto spotted him and walked not-so-steadily over to throw an arm on his teammate's shoulders. "_Away, be gone. The sport is at the best_," he laughed drunkenly. Sakura emerged from the crowd, and the three made their way towards the door.

"_Ay, so I fear. The more is my unrest_," Sasuke said, still searching the crowd for a hint of lavender silk or sapphire hair.

From the stairway at the end of the hallway, Hinata beckoned to her sister. "_Come hither_, sister. _What is yond gentleman_?" she asked, leaning down to speak in the younger girl's ear.

"_The son and heir of old _Danzo," Hanabi replied obediently.

"_What's he that now is going out of door_?"

"_That, I think, be young _Konohamaru."

"_What's he that follows there, that would not dance_?"

Hanabi hesitated. "_I know not_."

"_Go ask his name_," Hinata said with a pleading tone. Hanabi grinned at her sister before hurrying down the stairs. "_If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed_," Hinata said to herself.

She watched her sister work through the crowd until she was intercepted by their cousin. They had a brief conversation before Hanabi returned to the stairway. Her eyes were no longer twinkling. "_His name is _Sasuke_, and _an Uchiha," Hanabi reported.

Hinata felt a twisting in her gut. "_My only love sprung from my only hate. Too early seen unknown and known to late_," she said in an barely audible whisper.

"_What's this_?" Hanabi asked, cocking her head to one side.

"_A rhyme I learnt even now of one I danc'd withal_," Hinata replied in a shaky voice. She watched the crowd until the dark-haired boy had passed through the door. Then she turned and retired to her room for the night.


	3. Act II

Act II

Summary: The ever-famous balcony scene. Ninja style.

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Scene i

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As Team 7 began walking away from the Hyuuga house, Sasuke suddenly pulled from Naruto's drunken grasp and darted into the darkness. Out of sight of any onlookers, he reached the wall surrounding the main house and, with one leap, was up and over.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called after him. "Sasuke!"

Sakura, who had not been paying attention, placed her hand over Naruto's mouth. "_He is wise, and, on my life, hath stol'n him home to bed_," she said dismissively. Inside, she felt the sharp pain of disappointment that he didn't want to walk home with them.

Naruto was not satisfied. "_He ran this way and leapt this orchard wall. Call, good_ Sakura," he said while tugging her back in the direction of the house.

Sakura let out an exasperated sigh. She was tired. Her feet were killing her. "_Nay, I'll conjure too_," she said. She walked towards the stone wall and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Sasuke! _Humors! Madman! Passion! Lover! Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh. Speak but one rhyme and I am satisfied_!"

There was no response. "_The ape is dead, and I must conjure him_," she said to the sky. Louder, she continued her taunting, "_I conjure thee by _Tenten's_ bright eyes. By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, by her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh, and the demesnes that there adjacent lie, that in thy likeness thou appear to us_!"

Naruto looked worried. "_An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him_."

"_This cannot anger him_," Sakura said blithely. "_My invocation is fair and honest. In his mistress' name I conjure only but to raise up him_."

"_Come,_" said Naruto, turning back towards the street. "_He hath hid himself among these trees to be consorted with the humorous night. Blind is his love and best befits the dark_."

"_If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark_," Sakura said sourly as she walked beside Naruto. Over her shoulder she called, "Sasuke, _good night_."

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Scene ii

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Despite his silence, Sasuke had heard each of Sakura's jibes. "She_ jests at scars that never felt a wound_," he muttered as he snuck through the trees surrounding the main house. Confident in his stealth, he leapt onto the roof and pondered what to do next as he crouched in a moonshadow.

Further down the exterior of the house, a window slid open. "_But soft! What light through yonder window breaks_?" he breathed. "_It is the East, and _Hinata_ is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief that thou her maid art far more fair than she_."

Leaning her elbows on the windowsill, Hinata rested her cheek on her palm and sighed into the darkness. "_That I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek_!" Sasuke whispered fervently as he crept towards the edge of the roof for a better view.

"_Ay me_," Hinata sighed.

Sasuke felt his chest tighten. "_She speaks. Speak again, bright angel, for thou art as glorious to this night as is a winged messenger of heaven._"

"_O _Sasuke, Sasuke_! Wherefore art thou _Sasuke?" she said softly into the night. "_Deny thy _family_ and refuse thy name! Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a _Hyuuga"

Sasuke nearly spoke out at this but instead bit his tongue and remained silent. She had discovered his name! He tried to process her words, but her voice was like honey and thickened his thoughts.

"'_Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not _anUchiha. _O, be some other name! What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet_," she argued quietly.

Sasuke was only a few feet from her window now and could clearly see her profile in the moonlight. Where once he considered those silver eyes the mark of a devil, he now thought them filled with an angel's innocence and beauty.

"Sasuke_, doff thy name, and for that name, which is no part of thee, take all myself_." The longing in her voice only amplified his own aching, and he could no longer hold silent.

"_I take thee at they word_," he said eagerly from his perch. "_Call me but love, and I'll be new. Henceforth I never will be _Sasuke."

"_What man art thou that, thus bescreen'd in night, so stumblest on my counsel_?" she asked with surprise, craning her neck to peer onto the roof.

"_By a name I know not how to tell thee who I am. My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself because it is an enemy to thee_," he said sadly.

She leaned further out her window. "_My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound_. _Art thou not _Sasuke_, and _an Uchiha?"

He molded his chakra and walked over the lip of the roof so that he was standing upside down from the eave of her window. She jumped backwards in surprise and found herself staring into a pair of coal black eyes. "_Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike_," he said, drinking in the sight of her without her mask.

Hinata collected herself and approached the apparition in her window. "_How cam'st thou hither, tell me, and wherefore? And the place death, considering who thou art, if any of my kinsmen find thee here_."

"_With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls for stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do, that dares love attempt. Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me_," he said with a confident smirk.

Hinata could not help a small smile herself. She was not convinced, though. "_If they do see thee, they will murder thee._ _I would not for the world they saw thee here."_

"_I have night's cloak to hide me from their sight. And but thou love me, let them find me here. My life were better ended by their hate than death prolonged, wanting of thy love_." He reached out and stroked her cheek as he had so dearly wanted to earlier.

She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. She was worried she had said too much already, and that he would think her too quickly won. "_O gentle_ Sasuke, _if thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully. In truth, fair _Uchiha_, I am too fond and therefore thou mayst think my haviour light._"

Sasuke opened his mouth to protest, but Hinata placed a slim finger over his lips. "_But trust me, gentleman,_" she continued."_I'll prove more true than those that have more cunning to be strange. I should have been more strange, but that thou overheard'st, ere I was ware, my true-love passion. Therefore pardon me and not impute this yielding to light love, which the dark of night hath so discovered_."

Sasuke kissed the finger at his lips. "_Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear…_"

"_O, swear not by the moon, th'inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable_," she said.

"_What shall I swear by_?" Sasuke asked. He wasn't sure what his lady was asking for.

"_Do not swear at all. Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, which is the god of my idolatry, and I'll believe thee. Although I joy in thee, I have no joy of this contract tonight. It is too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden." _She kissed him gently as he hung upside down. "_Sweet, good night_!" she said, and turned back into her room.

Sasuke was surprised at the abrupt dismissal. "_Wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied_?" he blurted, reaching out one arm as if to draw her back to him.

Hinata turned back towards the window. "_What satisfaction canst thou have tonight_?" she asked innocently.

Sasuke wasn't sure how to respond. "_Th 'exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine_," he said lamely.

"_I gave thee mine before thou didst request it, and yet I would it were to give again_," she said. Inside the house, someone called her name. She turned back to Sasuke. "_Three words, dear _Sasuke_, and good night indeed. If that thy bent of love be honourable, thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow._"

"Sister!" Hanabi called from the hallway.

"Anon, good sister!" Hinata shouted back. She turned to the window, "_But if thou meanest not well, I do beseech thee_—"

A knock came at the door. "Sister!"

"_By and by I come_!" Hinata said with impatience. "_To cease thy suit and leave me to my grief_," she finished to Sasuke. "_Tomorrow will I send_."

"_So thrive my soul_—" Sasuke began to say.

"_A thousand times good night_!" Hinata said, kissing him lightly before quickly leaving the room.

"_A thousand times the worse, to want thy light_," Sasuke murmured to the empty room. He released the chakra in his feet and jumped lightly to the ground.

A different window above slid open, and Sasuke immediately slipped into a shadow. "_Sasuke_!" Hinata called softly.

"_My dear_?" he replied, ducking back into the moonlight.

"_At what o'clock tomorrow shall I send to thee_?" she asked.

"_By the hour of nine_," he said.

"_I will not fail_," she said. "_Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say good night til it be morrow_." She hesitated one last time before sliding the window shut with a click.

The click awoke Sasuke from his cloud of love and lust. He realized his situation with a start and immediately disappeared in a swirl of leaves. What was he thinking? Standing on the Hyuuga's lawn like some strange ornament. Instead of heading towards his own house, he turned towards the forest to spend the remaining hours of the night in solitude.

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Scene iii

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Before the sun had fully risen from the horizon, Sasuke arrived at the monument for fallen shinobi. Sure enough, a figure stood slumped in front of the carved stone. "_Good morrow_, sensei," Sasuke called.

Kakashi did not turn around. "_What early tongue so sweet saluteth me? Thy earliness doth me assure thou art uprous'd with some distemp'rature. Or if not so, then here I hit it right – our _Sasuke_ hath not been in bed tonight_."

"_That last is true_," Sasuke admitted. "_The sweeter rest was mine_."

Kakashi turned enough to study his student from the corner of his eye. "_Wast thou with _Tenten?" he asked, not bothering to hide his curiosity.

"_With_ Tenten?" Sasuke scoffed. "_No. I have forgot that name and that name's woe_."

"_That's my good _student!_ But where hast thou been then_?"

Sasuke hesitated one last time, though he had spent the last two hours coming to the decision to seek his teacher's help. "_Plainly know my heart's dear love is set on the fair daughter of _Hyuuga_. As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine, but this I pray – that thou consent to marry us today_."

Kakashi's eye curved in amusement. "_What a change is here! Is _Tenten_, that thou didst love so dear, so soon forsaken? How much salt water thrown away in waste, to season love that of it doth not taste! Art thou chang'd_?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He should have sought another's aid. "_Thou chid'st me oft for loving _Tenten."

"_For doting, not for loving, pupil mine_," Kakashi teased.

"_I pray thee, chide not. She whom I love now doth grace for grace and love for love allow. The other did not so_," Sasuke said defensively.

"_O, she knew well thy love did read by rote that could not spell_," Kakashi said, still grinning. "_But come, young waverer, come go with me. In one respect I'll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households' rancour to pure love_."

Sasuke reminded himself to keep his pride in check if it meant Kakashi would go along with his plans. "_Let us hence_," he said to his instructor. "_I stand on sudden haste_."

"_Wisely and slowly_," Kakashi cautioned. "_They stumble that run fast_."

They turned to walk back to the city while discussing the plans for the day.

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Scene iii

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Sakura leaned over the red railing of the bridge and stared at the water flowing by. She and Naruto had been waiting for two hours without sign of Sasuke or their sensei. The absence of Kakashi was nothing new, but it was unusual for Sasuke to be late despite his recent brooding and sulking. "_Where the devil should this _Sasuke_ be_?" she complained. "_Came he hath not home tonight_?"

"_Not to his _house," Naruto replied. "_I spoke with his _brother."

Sakura got angry. "_Why, that same pale hard-hearted wench, that _Tenten_, torments him so that he will sure run mad_," she scowled. Inner Sakura was ranting inside her head.

Naruto hastily changed the subject. "Neji _hath sent a letter to his _brother's_ house_," he said.

"_A challenge, on my life_," Sakura said excitedly.

"Sasuke_ will answer it_," Naruto said confidently.

"_Any man that can write may answer a letter_," Sakura scoffed. The obsession with Tenten had begun to affect Sasuke's concentration and discipline. In Sakura's opinion, he was growing soft.

"_Nay, he will answer the letter's master, how he dares, being dared_," Naruto said, never doubting his friend's honor.

"_Alas, poor_ Sasuke_, he is already dead! Stabb'd with a white wench's black eye. Shot through the ear with a love song. The very pin of his heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's butt-shaft_," Sakura said with contempt. More seriously, she asked, "_Is he a man to encounter _Neji?"

"_Why, what is _Neji?" Naruto asked, squinting his eyes in confusion.

"_More than Prince of Cats, I tell you_," Sakura said grimly. "_O, he's the courageous captain of compliments. He fights as you sing pricksong_."

Without warning, she lunged at Naruto with a kunai. Naruto dodged her thrusts and slashes as she continued speaking, "_Keeps time, distance, and proportion_." She created a clone and the two attacked the blond side by side. "_Rests me his minim rest, one, two…_" Naruto switched between blocking both girls and trying to restrain the real one. Suddenly, both figures disappeared and he felt something prick his chest.

"_And the third in your bosom_," Sakura's voice whispered from behind his ear. She withdrew the kunai and sat back down on the railing. "_A duelist. A gentleman of the very first house._"

Naruto looked as if he was going to defend Sasuke's fighting ability, when the two teammates paused. They sensed their teammate before they saw him. "_Here comes _Sasuke!" Naruto beamed.

Sakura's first reaction to seeing Sasuke was happiness, as always. But soon followed her disgust for the way he'd been acting lately. "_Without his roe, like a dried herring. O flesh, how art thou fishified_!" she mocked. "_To his lady, Dido a dowdy, Cleopatra a gypsy, Helen and Hero hildings and harlots. _Uchiha-sama, ohayo gozaimasu! _You gave us the counterfeit fairly last night_."

"_Good morrow to you both_," Sasuke said with a nod. "_What counterfeit did I give you_?" he asked, confusion plain on his face.

"_The slip, sir, the slip_," she said with mild annoyance. "_Can you not conceive_?"

"_Padron, good _Sakura_. My business was great, and in such a case as mine a man may strain courtesy_," he explained.

Such a case as his? Sakura was definitely annoyed now. "_That's as much as to say, such a case as yours constrains a man to bow in the hams_."

"_A most courteous exposition_," Sasuke said wryly.

"_Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy_," Sakura bowed elegantly.

"_Pink for flower_."

"_Right_."

"_Why, then is my pump well-flower'd_."

"_Well said_," grinned Sakura. She was having fun pulling snide remarks from the Uchiha. "_Follow me this jest now til thou hast worn out thy pump, that when the single sole of it is worn, the jest may remain, after the wearing, solely singular_."

"_O single-sold jest, solely singular for the singleness_," Sasuke smirked.

Sakura held a hand to her forehead. "_Come between us, good _Naruto_. My wits faint_," she said in exaggerated despair. "_If our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done. For thou hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than I have in my whole five. Was I with you there for the goose_?"

"_Thou wast never with me for anything when thou wast not there for the goose_," he shot back.

"_I will bite thee by the ear for that jest_."

"_Nay, good goose, bite not_," Sasuke said, holding his hand up in defense.

Sakura grinned. She was glad to see her teammate in better spirits. "_Why, is not this better now than groaning for love_? _Now art thou sociable, now art thou _Sasuke. _For this…_"

"_Stop there_!" groaned Naruto, holding his head. He had lost the thread of the banter before it had barely begun.

"_Thou desirest me to stop in my tale against the hair_," Sakura seemed disappointed.

"_Thou wouldst else have made thy tale large_," Naruto grumbled. Why spend the morning tossing around words?

Sakura huffed, "_O, thou art deceiv'd! I would have made it short, for I was come to the whole depth of my tale and meant indeed to occupy the argument no longer_."

"_Here's goodly gear_," Sasuke said, changing the subject as a small figure approached the bridge. She wore simple clothes and glasses with tinted lenses.

"_God ye good morrow_," the girl greeted.

"_God ye good-den, fair gentlewoman_," Sakura replied with mock politeness.

The girl turned towards Sasuke. "_I desire some confidence with yo_u," she whispered conspiratorially

"_She will endite him to some supper_," Naruto grinned.

"_A bawd, a bawd! So ho_!" Sakura cackled.

Sasuke ignored their antics. "_What hast thou found_?" he asked the girl.

"_No hare, sir_," Sakura said, still giggling.

Sasuke shot them a nasty glare, and Sakura and Naruto took the not so subtle hint. "Sasuke_, will you come to your _brother's? _We'll to dinner thither_," Sakura asked as they passed him and began walking away from the bridge.

"_I will follow you_," Sasuke said without looking at them.

Sakura was hurt by his sudden disregard. His good humor was short lived, it seemed. She forced a smile back onto her face, "_Farewell, ancient lady_," she mocked.

Before the two were out of earshot, Sasuke heard Sakura whisper, "Is he a pedophile now?"

"_Marry, farewell_," Hanabi huffed as she removed her glasses. "_Pray you, sir, what saucy _girl_ was this that was so full of _her _ropery_?"

"_A _kunoichi_ that loves to hear _herself_ talk and will speak more in a minute than _she _will stand to in a month_," Sasuke said with a sigh.

"_An 'a speak anything against me, I'll take _her_ down. And if I cannot, I'll find those that shall. Scurvy knave! I am so vexed_," she ground her teeth before visibly calming herself. "_Pray you, sir, a word. My _sister_ bid me enquire you out_."

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but Hanabi continued, "_First let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fool's paradise, it were a very gross kind of behaviour_."

"_Commend me to thy _sister," Sasuke said. "_I protest unto thee_—"

"_Good heart, and I faith I will tell her as much. She will be a joyful woman_," Hanabi smiled.

Sasuke was confused. "_What wilt thou tell her? Thou dost not mark me_."

"_I will tell her that you do protest, which, as I take it, is a gentlemanlike offer_," Hanabi said.

Sasuke nodded before giving his message to the girl. "_Bid her devise some means to come to _the Academy_ this afternoon, and there she shall _byKakashi-sensei's _cell be married_."

"_This afternoon, sir_?" Hanabi repeated. "_Well, she shall be there_."

With his message given, he turned towards the forest. "_Farewell_," he said. "_Commend me to thy mistress_."

Hanabi bowed slightly and began skipping back to the city. Sasuke watched his soon-to-be sister in law with a small smile.

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Scene v

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Hinata continued her pacing in the main house's garden. Hanabi had left when the clock struck nine, and it had been three long hours since. Impatience, insecurity, and more impatience made the wait unbearable. Finally, the door from the house slid open. "_O God, she comes! O _sweet sister_, what news? Hast thou met with him_?" she asked, rushing over to the younger girl. "_Why look'st thou sad_?" Her voice trembled.

"_I am aweary,_" Hanabi complained, rubbing her shoulder. "I had to travel quite a distance. _Do you not see that I am out of breath_?"

"_How art thou out of breath when thou hast breath to say to me that thou art out of breath_?" Hinata said with thinly-veiled patience. "_Is thy news good or bad_?"

Instead of answering, Hanabi threw herself onto a bench and sighed, "_Lord, how my head aches_!" She was enjoying toying with her sister.

Hinata sat beside her. "_I' faith, I am sorry that thou art not well. Sweet, sweet _sister_, tell me, what says my love_?" She would wring her sister's neck but it would prevent her from hearing her love's reply.

"_Where is _father?" Hanabi asked suddenly.

"_Where is _father?" Hinata echoed. "_Why, _he _is within. Where should _he_ be? How oddly thou repliest! Come, what says _Sasuke?"

"_Have you got leave to go to _the Academy _today_?" Hanabi asked seriously.

"_I have_."

"_Then hie you hence to _Kakashi-sensei's_ cell. There stays a husband to make you a wife_!" The last sentence was veritably a squeal as Hanabi hugged her sister.

"_Hie to high fortune_!" Hinata said. It was as much as she had hoped for! "_Farewell_," she told her sister before hurrying into the house.

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Scene iv

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The sun was beginning to slant by the time Sasuke reached the roof of the Academy. His instructor was already there reading his little orange book while leaning on the railing.

"_So smile the heavens upon this act that after-hours with sorrow chide us not_," Kakashi said without looking up.

"_It is enough I may but call her mine_," Sasuke replied in a serious tone.

"_These violent delights have violent ends and in their triumph die, like fire and poweder, which, as they kiss, consume. Therefore love moderately: long love doth so. Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow_." Kakashi closed his book with a snap. "_Here comes the lady_."

Hinata landed on the roof without a sound and straightened her simple white dress. Sasuke immediately went over to take her hand. "_If the measure of thy joy be heap'd like mine, then sweeten with thy breath this neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue unfold the imagin'd happiness that both receive in either by this dear encounter_," he said before kissing her hand.

Hinata felt the heat rise in her neck to her cheeks. "_Conceit, more rich in matter than in words, brags of his substance, not of ornament. They are but beggars that can count their worth. But my true love is grown to such excess cannot sum up sum of half my wealth_."

Kakashi cleared his throat. "_Come, come with me, and we will make short work_." He led the two towards the door back down into the Academy where the papers awaited signature.

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(AN) When I decided to use Hanabi for the role of the nurse and Sakura for Mercutio, I knew I would have to cut out some of the banter between the two in this Act, seeing as Hanabi is underage and Sakura lacks certain equipment. I urge you to read the original script for the full effect of the exchange. I was always amused they let us read this stuff aloud in high school…

The next chapter will be the first deviation from the tragic storyline, so please keep an eye out for updates! (/AN)


	4. Act III, Scene i: By the Book

Act III, Scene i

BY THE BOOK

(AN) This is the first bit of tragedy in the story. I will give you the scene first "by the book" as it was originally written. The next chapter will be this scene "with the help of a fool."

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Naruto glanced over at his teammate, who was staring through the window of a store looking for a new set of shuriken. They had finished training an hour ago, during which Sakura had lost half a dozen shuriken in the river. "_I pray thee, good _Sakura_, let's retire_," Naruto whined._ "The day is hot, the _Hyuuga _abroad, and if we meet, we shall not scape a brawl. For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring_."

Sakura sniffed and continued her window shopping. "_Thou art like one of these fellows that, when he enters the confines of a tavern, claps me his sword upon the table and says 'God send me no need of thee!' and by the operation of the second cup draws him on the drawer, when indeed there is no need_," she said accusingly.

"_Am I like such a fellow_?" Naruto asked, hurt a little by her assertion.

"_Come, come, thou art as hot a jack in thy mood as any in _Fire Country. _And as soon moved to be moody, and as soon moody to be moved_," she said in a kinder voice, though still teasing.

Suddenly, Naruto tensed. "_By my head, here comes _Neji," he whispered.

"_By my heel, I care not_," Sakura replied blithely. Inside, though, she felt her nerves coiling. The heat must be getting to her.

Neji stopped directly in front of the two shinobi. Sakura still hadn't taken her eyes from the shop's window display. "_Good den. A word with one of you_," Neji said in a low voice.

Sakura spoke first. "_And but one word with one of us?  Couple it with something; make it a word and a blow_," she said, finally turning towards the Hyuuga and staring defiantly into his eyes.

"_You shall find me apt enough to that_, girl, _an you will give me  occasion_," Neji said with a mean smirk.

"_Could you not take some occasion without giving_," she said.

Neji sneered, "Sakura_, thou consortest with _Sasuke." His inflection suggested more than one meaning for the word.

Sakura's face flushed with equal parts anger and embarrassment. "_Consort? What, dost thou make us minstrels? An thou make  minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords_." She punched her fist through the store's window and withdrew a long kunai. "_Here's my  fiddlestick; here's that shall make you dance._" Tiny drops of blood fell from her knuckles.

Other citizens on the street heard the glass shatter and turned to see the kunoichi standing with her weapon drawn. They scattered like roaches. Naruto stepped in front of Sakura. "_We talk here in the public haunt of men.  Either withdraw unto some private place  and reason coldly of your grievances,  or else depart. Here all eyes gaze on us_," he pleaded reasonably.

"_Men's eyes were made to look, and let them gaze.  I will not budge for no man's pleasure_," Sakura hissed as she pushed Naruto out of the way.

At that moment, Sasuke turned a corner and began walking towards the square.

Neji smirked one last time at Sakura, "_Well, peace be with you, _girl. _Here comes my man_." He turned to face the approaching figure. "Sasuke," he called, "_the love I bear thee can afford  no better term than this: thou art a villain_."

Sakura seethed to hear her friend insulted.

Sasuke merely stopped in front of Neji and met the Hyuuga's cold stare calmly. "Neji_, the reason that I have to love thee  doth much excuse the appertaining rage  to such a greeting. Villain am I none.  Therefore farewell. I see thou knowest me not_," he said evenly before stepping around the older boy and continuing down the street.

Sakura and Naruto looked at each other in puzzlement.

Neji was not finished with Sasuke, however. "_Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries  that thou hast done me. Therefore turn and draw_." He took a kunai from his holster.

Sasuke stopped walking, but did not turn around. "_I do protest I never injur'd thee,  but love thee better than thou canst devise  til thou shalt know the reason of my love.  And so good _Hyuuga_, which name I tender  as dearly as mine own, be satisfied._"

There was a brief silence while nobody spoke.

Then, Sakura could stand it no longer. "Neji, _you ratcatcher, will you walk_?" she challenged.

Neji turned slowly to stare at the kunoichi. "_What wouldst thou have with me_?" he asked.

"_Good King of Cats, nothing but one of your nine lives. That I  mean to make bold withal, and, as you shall use me hereafter,  dry-beat the rest of the eight_," she said with a wicked grin, bearing her teeth.

Veins stood out around Neji's eyes, and his smile matched her own for ferocity. "_I am for you_." With that, he disappeared and reappeared behind her with his kunai at her throat.

Immediately Sakura replaced herself with a mannequin from the store display. She reappeared and threw a punch at Neji, who dodged and aimed two fingers at her neck. As she twisted her head out of the way, she used the momentum to swing a kick at Neji's face. He blocked it and tried to sweep out her feet.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had finally turned around and returned to his teammates. "_Draw,_ Naruto_. Beat down their weapons_," he said to his blond friend who was frozen in place watching the two dueling.

Sasuke ran towards where Sakura and Neji were now battling in the fountain in the square. Both had blood streaming from a dozen different cuts. Neji was favoring one side, and it looked like the wound there could be deep. The Hyuuga dodged another punch, and Sakura's fist shattered the base of the granite statue. Chunks of rock splashed around them as they continued fighting. One piece fell on Neji's shoulder, and he went down on his knees.

"_Hold, _Neji!" Sasuke cried. "Sakura!" He managed to grab hold of Sakura's arm and whirl her around.

With a snarl, Neji lashed out and slashed Sakura's thigh. He jumped from the fountain before the rest of the granite could crush him.

Sakura pushed Sasuke away, and he stumbled away from the fountain. "_I am hurt_," she said disbelievingly, staggering a step. Sasuke saw the water around her turning crimson with her blood.

"_A plague o' both your houses! I am sped.  Is he gone and hath nothing_?" Sakura gasped and fell onto all fours. The water nearly reached her head where she was panting. Neji was no longer in sight.

Naruto walked over to his teammates. "_What, art thou hurt_?" he asked.

"_Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch_," Sakura said sarcastically. She tried to gather chakra in her hand, but failed again. She couldn't seem to think straight.

"_Courage, the hurt cannot be much_," Sasuke said awkwardly.

She spared him one last glare, him who she had loved so much for so long. "_Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave _girl. _Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm_," she said accusingly. She gave up trying to mold chakra to heal herself. Neji had sliced an artery; there was no recovery from this.

"_I thought all for the best_," Sasuke said weakly.

Sakura's vision blurred, and darkness tinged the edges. "_A plague o' both your houses_," she muttered, reaching for the edge of the fountain to pull herself out. "_They… have made worms' meat of me_," she said, finally collapsing.

Naruto jumped up onto the ruined fountain and gingerly picked up his teammate. Sasuke stared at the limp body. Some blood trickled down her leg, but it no longer pumped quickly from the gaping wound. There was none left.

"_This_ girl, _the_ Hokage's apprentice, _ my very friend, hath got this mortal hurt  in my behalf - my reputation stain'd  with_ Neji's _slander_--" Sasuke whispered hoarsely.

"She's dead," Naruto said softly.

"_This day's black fate on moe days doth depend.  This but begins the woe others must end_," Sasuke said, his fists clenching involuntarily.

Naruto noticed a figure limping slowly back towards the square. "_Here comes the furious _Neji _back again_," he said, nodding with his head.

"_Alive in triumph, and_ Sakura _slain?_" Sasuke turned towards the Hyuuga, who had stopped a short distance away. He was pressing one hand on the wound in his side. "_Now_, Neji, _take the 'villain' back again  that late thou gavest me, for _Sakura's_ soul  is but a little way above our heads,  staying for thine to keep her company_."  He held his left hand out to the side. "_Either thou or I, or both, must go with_ her," he said evenly.

Neji glanced at the body in Naruto's arms and then back at Sasuke. "_Thou, wretched boy that didst consort_ her _here  shalt with_ her _hence_," he sneered defiantly, though he had lost much of his original dignity along with his blood.

In an instant, the chattering of a thousand birds filled the air around him, and Neji turned his head to look into Sasuke's red eyes, which were suddenly only inches from his own. "_This shall determine that_," Sasuke whispered in his ear. Neji had not expected Sasuke to act so viciously or so quickly.

Sasuke stepped back and withdrew his hand from Neji's chest. The chirping stopped, and Neji fell hard on his face, dead before he hit the ground.

Naruto had laid Sakura's body on the edge of the fountain and now came running over. "Sasuke, _away, be gone! The _Hokage_ will doom thee death if thou art taken. Hence, be gone, away_!"

Sasuke looked down at his hand, covered with Neji's blood and internal fluids. "_O, I am fortune's fool_," he whispered.

"_Why dost thou stay_?" Naruto asked, pushing his friend into motion. Sasuke shook himself before making a few hand seals and disappearing.

Naruto walked back to the fountain and sat down beside the body of his teammate. Villagers were beginning to peer around corners and venture back out into the street.

A few minutes later, the Hokage arrived with a handful of ANBU. Itachi and Hiashi had also been summoned.

"_Where are the vile beginners of this fray_?" bellowed Tsunade.

"_O noble _Hokage. _I can discover all  the unlucky manage of this fatal brawl.  There lies the man, slain by young_ Sasuke, _ that slew thy _apprentice_, brave _Sakura," Naruto said wearily.

"_O my brother's child_!" Hiashi cried as he knelt beside Neji's body. "Hokage-sama_, as thou art true, for blood of ours shed blood of _Uchiha."

"Naruto-kun," Tsunade said, "_who began this bloody fray_?"

Naruto told the group what he had seen, the truth tumbling from his numb lips.

"_He is a _friend_ to the _Uchiha," Hiashi accused, veins standing out around his eyes. "_Affection makes him false, he speaks not true_. I beg for justice, which thou, Hokage-sama, _must give_.  Sasuke _slew_ Neji. Sasuke _must not live_."

The Hokage was looking at the pink-haired body lying wet and bloody on the cold granite. "Sasuke _slew him; he slew_ Sakura. _ Who now the price of her dear blood doth owe_?" she murmured.

"Not Sasuke, Hokage-sama. He was Sakura's friend.  His fault concludes but what the law should end - the life of Neji," Itachi said.

Hiashi shot the young Uchiha an icy glare and was about to reply when Tsunade held up her hand for silence. "_And for that offence  immediately we do exile him hence_," she said softly in a dangerous voice. _"Let_ Sasuke _hence in haste,  else, when he is found, that hour is his last.  Bear hence this body and attend our will._"

One of the masked figures hefted the body of Sakura over his shoulder, and the group disappeared. Hiashi picked up his fallen nephew and stared hard at Itachi, who merely disappeared without a word. Hiashi left as well, leaving Naruto alone in the square.

---------------------

(AN) I know, I know! I didn't like killing Neji and Sakura either! Read the next chapter for the alternate ending. (/AN)


	5. Act III, Scene i: Help of a Fool

Act III, Scene i

WITH THE HELP OF A FOOL

(AN) This scene starts off exactly like in the original story. It begins to deviate after Sasuke shows up in the street and Neji calls out his challenge. (/AN)

-------------------

At that moment, Sasuke turned a corner and began walking towards the square. 

Neji smirked one last time at Sakura, "_Well, peace be with you, _girl. _Here comes my man_." He turned to face the approaching figure. "Sasuke," he called, "_the love I bear thee can afford  no better term than this: thou art a villain_."

Sakura seethed to hear her friend insulted.

Sasuke merely stopped in front of Neji and met the Hyuuga's cold stare calmly. "Neji_, the reason that I have to love thee  doth much excuse the appertaining rage  to such a greeting. Villain am I none.  Therefore farewell. I see thou knowest me not_," he said evenly before stepping around the older boy and continuing down the street.

Sakura and Naruto looked at each other in puzzlement. Naruto turned towards Sasuke. "What possible reason do you have to love him?" Naruto asked incredulously.

Neji was not finished with Sasuke, however. "_Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries  that thou hast done me. Therefore turn and draw_." He took a kunai from his holster.

Sasuke stopped walking, but did not turn around. "_I do protest I never injur'd thee,  but love thee better than thou canst devise  til thou shalt know the reason of my love.  And so good _Hyuuga_, which name I tender  as dearly as mine own, be satisfied._"

There was a brief silence while nobody spoke. "You love Neji?" Naruto asked. His eyes were squinted in confusion. "You tender his name?"

Sasuke gave no response.

Then, Sakura could stand it no longer. "Neji, _you ratcatcher, will you walk_?" she challenged.

Neji turned his head slowly to stare at the kunoichi. "_What wouldst thou have with me_?" he asked.

"_Good King of Cats, nothing but one of your nine lives. That I  mean to make bold withal, and, as you shall use me hereafter,  dry-beat the rest of the eight_," she said with a wicked grin, bearing her teeth.

Veins stood out around Neji's eyes, and his smile matched her own for ferocity. "_I am for you_." With that, he disappeared and reappeared behind her with his kunai at her throat.

Immediately Sakura replaced herself with a mannequin from the store display. She reappeared and threw a punch at Neji, who dodged and aimed two fingers at her neck. As she twisted her head out of the way, she used the momentum to swing a kick at Neji's head. He blocked it and tried to sweep out her feet.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had finally turned around and returned to his teammates. "_Draw,_ Naruto_. Beat down their weapons_," he said to his blond friend who was frozen in place watching the two dueling.

"Sasuke, what is the reason of your love?" Naruto asked. When his friend didn't reply, Naruto continued, "Either you speak, or these two will not stop until one or both are dead."

"I fell in love with Hinata, and we were wed this very afternoon. I cannot raise my hand against my own kin," Sasuke said helplessly.

"Wed?!" Nauruto stared at him. "Are you serious?!" Sasuke just nodded silently.

"Idiot! Why didn't you say so earlier?" Naruto demanded.

They turned towards where Sakura and Neji were now battling in the fountain in the square. Both had blood streaming from a dozen different cuts. Neji was favoring one side, and it looked like the wound there could be deep. The Hyuuga dodged another punch, and Sakura's fist shattered the base of the granite statue. Chunks of rock splashed around them as they continued fighting. One piece fell on Neji's shoulder and he went down on his knees.

Naruto bit his thumb and made a few quick seals before slamming his palm into the ground.

In a great puff of smoke, Gama the toad appeared in the fountain. He grabbed Sakura with his tongue while pinning Neji with a large foot.

"Naruto! Why do you interfere?" Sakura screamed furiously.

"Sakura-chan, you can't kill Neji," Naruto said, running over to the fountain.

"I very well can, and if this frog-face would release me, I'll prove it," she growled.

"You don't understand. Sasuke married Hyuuga Hinata earlier this day. He and Neji are kinsmen now," Naruto said, waving his arms in the air.

Sakura froze. Neji stopped squirming under the giant toad's foot.

"Thanks, Gama," Naruto said, and the toad disappeared. Sakura fell back into the water with a splash, and Neji sat up clutching his ribs.

"What did you say?" Sakura asked softly.

Sasuke walked up next to Naruto. "It's true. Hinata and I were married by Kakashi-sensei not three hours ago," he said as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Both Sakura and Neji looked like they were about to retch.

"You married…," Sakura began.

"… my cousin," Neji finished.

At that moment, the Hokage arrived with a handful of ANBU. Itachi and Hiashi had also been summoned.

"_Where are the vile beginners of this fray_?" Tsunade bellowed.

"Peace, Tsunade-baa-chan," Naruto said, stepping forward. "It was only a miscommunication."

"Why did you summon Gama?" she demanded, rounding on the blond ninja.

"Well see, there had been a mistake, and I didn't want Sakura and Neji getting upset over nothing," Naruto explained. "I just did the first thing I could think of."

Tsunade turned to the two figures in the fountain. "I thought I informed you of the penalty of fighting in the city," she said sharply.

Sasuke cut off their reply. "It was my fault, Hokage-sama. I should have spoken up sooner before things got out of hand," he said humbly.

Tsunade was still looking for an outlet for her anger. She pointed her fist at Sasuke, and then held out one finger.

"Wait, Tsunade-baa-chan!" Naruto said quickly, running to stand in front of Sasuke with his arms flung wide. "You can't hurt Sasuke today. He just got married."

"What?" Itachi asked. "To whom?"

"To Hyuuga Hinata," Naruto answered for Sasuke.

Hiashi spluttered, "Lies! My daughter is to be betrothed to another!"

Sasuke finally spoke up. "Here are the papers." Reaching into his pouch, he handed the marriage contract to the Hokage.

She stared at the signatures before chuckling. "Well indeed. You speak true."

"My daughter married?" Hiashi said disbelievingly. "And without a proper ceremony or celebration. I suppose if she chose you willingly…"

"Our love was the only cele —" Sasuke began.

"Little brother, you are free to decide such things for yourself, but did you not think to notify me of this decision first?" Itachi interrupted in a disturbingly calm voice.

Sasuke paled.

"Itachi, Hiashi, come with me to my office where we will discuss this further. Sasuke, come by later this afternoon so that we may speak," the Hokage commanded. With a nod to the ANBU, they all disappeared.

Naruto immediately went over to Sasuke and began hounding him with questions. Sakura looked around for Neji, but he was nowhere to be seen. Blood-swirled puddles leading away from the fountain gave her a good idea of where to look. Neither of her teammates noticed her departure.

---------------

Scene ii

---------------

"Come to finish the job?" Neji asked with a sneer. He sat with his back against the wall of a dirty alley, his hand pressed over the wound in his side.

Sakura did not answer, just stood in the mouth of the alley. Water dripped from the ends of her hair and from the kunai held loosely in slack fingers.

Neji stood, though with some difficulty. He would not be slaughtered like a lamb with no resistance. It galled him that this girl had bested him, though the outcome had not been guaranteed before Naruto interfered. He had been caught off guard by her strength and speed and learned his lesson too late.

The kunai fell from Sakura's hand and clattered to the ground. She walked into the alley, but instead of making a move towards the injured Hyuuga, she leaned against the wall opposite him and slid to the ground. "What…," she began hoarsely. She swallowed and continued, "What the hell just happened?"

Neji sat back down as well. Slumped back down was more like it. He was still stunned from the news and weak from the blood loss.

"My cousin," he said thickly, "married an Uchiha." He barked a hoarse laugh that bordered on insanity. "I could kill her, but what would that achieve? Hiashi-sama would spend a month keeping me alive so he could drag my entrails out inch by inch."

Sakura stared blankly at the brick wall of the alley. Sasuke was married. She had always known he hadn't loved her and probably never would. But the finality of it all… And the manner in which he had told them… Her eyes focused on the bleeding figure across from her, and she forced herself not to cry. She would not show weakness in front of this man!

On her hands and knees, she crawled across the dirt and litter towards where Neji sat. He pointed his kunai and snarled at her. When she didn't stop, he threw it. He was weak, but the distance was short.

Sakura snatched the weapon from the air and tossed it over her shoulder. "Stop fussing," she said tiredly. "We are no longer enemies, it seems. Let me heal you."

Neji still suspected a trap, but at this point he had lost too much blood. Either she would kill him, or he would bleed to death in this alley. The result would be the same no matter what.

Sakura knelt in front of him and channeled her chakra into her hand. She hesitated, expecting another violent reaction from the man. He met her gaze, and she searched his silver eyes for some sign of treachery. He gave the tiniest of nods, and she put her hand over the deep wound on the side of his abdomen.

She closed her eyes as she concentrated, and Neji studied the face of the girl who had as of minutes ago been his adversary. He still felt confusion and anger raging inside his chest, but he was slowly forcing himself to relax. He would simply have to get over it all. Hiashi had made his decision. The hate was cooling and fading along with the pain in his side, and to his surprise, his emotions were turning into something else.

The healing was complete in minutes, and Sakura opened her eyes. Looking into the silver gaze of a Hyuuga reminded her of the situation with the force of a sledgehammer. All the despair she felt for the complete and utter loss of Sasuke made her throat constrict as if she really was drowning in her sorrow. "Why?" she asked the figure in front of her. "Why did he choose Hyuuga Hinata?" She hated the anguish she heard in her own voice. It was pathetic. Where were her witty remarks and snide comments?

"I don't know," Neji replied. His voice was deep and smooth, and his eyes did not flicker from her face. "She is weak and flighty and given to fits of depression and fancy."

Sakura swallowed her bitterness and forced a smile to her lips. It was her usual mask, and she was good at wearing it. "And what catches your fancy, O Prince of Cats?" she asked, trying to lighten the conversation.

Still, he did not take his eyes from her. "I prefer a woman with intelligence and wit," he said. "A woman who can plant a kunai in my kidney and then heal it just as easily." He leaned towards Sakura without breaking eye contact. Her eyes were wide and her breathing had gone shallow. "A woman who is beautiful but also strong," he whispered as his lips brushed her own.

"Is that so," she breathed, "Prince of Cats?"

Like every other aspect of him, Neji dominated their kiss. His tongue sought ownership of her lips, one hand resting possessively on the back of her neck. Sakura enjoyed the feeling of being desired, of her senses being overwhelmed. She had been longing for someone to notice her, but submissiveness was simply not in her nature anymore.

She threw one knee over the outstretched legs of the Hyuuga so that she was straddling his lap. Then she pushed his shoulders until his back pressed against the brick wall, and she towered slightly above him despite her shorter height. He ran his hands up the back of her thighs, and she broke the kiss with a shiver.

He trailed his lips down her neck to her collarbone, and his hands continued their way up along the sides of her ribs. He nipped the fabric over her breast with his teeth and she gasped. He took the opportunity to stand up and whirl them around so that she was now the one pinned against the wall by her wrists.

She looked up at him with her teeth bared, but before she could say anything, he was once again kissing her with her back against the cold stone. She could feel his desire pressing against her. "My place is closer," she murmured into his mouth, and with a puff of smoke, they were gone.

-----------

(AN) And there you are. With a few words from a semi-wise fool, we have an instant comedy/drama!

Also, please forgive my NejiSaku indulgence. The idea of Tybalt and Mercutio getting it on amuses me to no end, and of course I love NejiSaku. (/AN)


	6. Act III, Scene ii, iii, iv

Act III, Scene ii

By the Book

(AN) I pick the story back up from Chapter 4 (Act III, scene I by the book) as if Naruto's intervention between Sakura and Neji never happened. Next chapter, we will give Naruto yet another chance to set things right and return this play to the comedy it should be.

As I said before, I really prefer the first two acts of this play compared to the rest, so forgive me if I mock the tragic aspects a bit XD (/AN)

-------------------

Hinata sat on a bench in the main garden with a book lying forgotten on her lap. Instead, she gazed up at the sky and gauged the time by the sun, wishing it would move faster so that she may see her husband again. Her husband! Only three hours such, the word seemed exotic to her. She bid the night hurry so that she and Sasuke may….

She blushed at the thought, but her embarrassment did not stop the way her stomach tightened and her whole body seemed to tingle. She was excited and scared, impatient and hesitant. The heat in her abdomen began to spread, but before she could think any longer about her plans for the evening, her sister came pounding through the house and into the garden.

"_Ay me! what news? Why dost thou wring thy hands_?" Hinata asked the stricken girl.

"_He's dead, he's dead! We are undone_," Hanabi sobbed, falling to her knees to bury her face in her sister's dress.

"_Can heaven be so envious_?" asked Hinata, smoothing the girls hair from her face and trying to remain calm.

"_Sasuke can, though heaven cannot. O Sasuke! Who ever would have thought it_?" Hanabi said through her tears.

Hinata felt herself grow cold with dread. She grabbed her sister by the shoulders and tried to coax her to meet her gaze. "_What devil art thou that dost torment me thus? Hath _Sasuke_ slain himself_?"

"_I saw the wound_," Hanabi hiccupped. "_I saw it with mine eyes here on his breast. A piteous corse, pale as ashes, bedaub'd in blood._"

"_O, break, my heart_," Hinata whispered numbly. Her love was gone not a day arrived. She reached for her belt dagger.

"_O_, Neji! _O courteous _Neji!" Hanabi cried as she dissolved into sobs again.

Hinata's hand hesitated on the hilt of her blade. "_What storm is this that blows so contrary?  Is _Sasuke_ slaught'red, and is _Neji_ dead_?"

Hanabi looked up from Hinata's sodden skirts. "Neji_ is gone, and_Sasuke_ banished. _ Sasuke_ that kill'd him_, _he is banished_."

"_O God! Did _Sasuke's_ hand shed _Neji's_ blood_?" Hinata asked.

Hanabi nodded her head weakly. "_It did, it did! alas the day, it did_!"

The coldness in Hinata's heart was replaced by sorrow and grief, which led inevitably to anger. "_O serpent heart, hid with a flow'ring face_!" she whispered to herself. Her hands clenched in the fabric of her sister's clothes. "_Was ever book containing such vile matter  so fairly bound? O, that deceit should dwell  in such a gorgeous palace_!"

"_There's no trust,  no faith, no honesty in men_," Hanabi said bitterly. "_Shame come to _Sasuke!"

Immediately, Hinata's anger redirected itself towards her sister. "_Blister'd be thy tongue  for such a wish! He was not born to shame. Upon his brow shame is asham'd to sit. O, what a beast was I to chide at him_!"

"_Will you speak well of him that kill'd your cousin_?" Hanabi asked in disbelief.

"_Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband_?" Guilt prevailed amongst all other emotions in Hinata's mind. "_Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name  when I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it_?"

Something Hanabi had said still nagged at Hinata's mind. What else had she said about Sasuke? Then it hit her. Banished. "_That one word 'banished,'  hath slain ten thousand _Nejis._ There is no end, no limit, measure, bound in that word's death; no words can that woe sound_."

Hanabi sensed a change in her sister and wiped away her own tears. "_Hie to your chamber. I'll find _Sasuke_ to comfort you_," she told her older sister. "_He is hid at _Kakashi's_ cell_." Concentrating on a task would help distract herself from the pain of losing her cousin.

Hinata hugged her sister. "_O, find him! Give this ring to my true knight  and bid him come to take his last farewell_." Hinata slipped a silver ring from her finger and placed it into Hanabi's hand. She kissed her on the cheek, and the young girl scrambled on her way.

-------------------

Scene iii

-------------------

Kakashi sighed at the knock on the door. He knew his student would come eventually. "Sasuke, _come forth. Affliction is enanmour'd of thy parts,  and thou art wedded to calamity_," he called aloud.

Sasuke opened the door and slinked into the room. "Sensei, _what news? What is the _Hokage's_ doom? What sorrow craves acquaintance at my hand  that I yet know not_?"

"_A gentler judgment vanish'd from his lips -  Not body's death, but body's banishment_," Kakashi told him.

Sasuke barked a short laugh. "_Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say 'death'.  For exile hath more terror in his look.  Much more than death. Do not say 'banishment._'"

"_Hence from _Konoha_ art thou banished.  Be patient, for the world is broad and wide_," Kakashi said reassuringly.

"_There is no world without _Konoha_ walls,  but purgatory, torture, hell itself_," Sasuke said grimly. He sat down in a wooden chair and hung his head in his hands. "_Calling death 'banishment,'  thou cut'st my head off with a golden axe  and smilest upon the stroke that murders me_."

"_O rude unthankfulness!  Thy fault our law calls death, but the kind_Hokage_,  taking thy part, hath rush'd aside the law  and turn'd that black word death to banishment.  This is dear mercy, and thou seest it not_," Kakashi chided gently.

"_'Tis torture and not mercy. Heaven is here,  where _Hinata_ lives_," Sasuke said with despair, tears streaming from his obsidian eyes.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door. Kakashi immediately jumped to his feet, but Sasuke seemed not to hear it for he didn't stir. "_Who's there_?" Kakashi called out casually. In a hushed whisper, he said, "Sasuke, _arise. Thou wilt be taken_."

There was another knock. "_By and by_!" Kakashi called. "_Stand up_," he hissed at Sasuke.

The third knock was more insistent. "_What simpleness is this_?" Kakashi grumbled before kicking the unmoving boy out of the chair and pushing him behind the desk. "_Whence come you? What's your will_?" he called to the door.

"_Let me come in_," said a muffled voice. "_I come from _Hyuuga Hinata."

Kakashi let out a sigh and opened the door. "_Welcome then,_" he told the young girl.

"_O, tell me, _sensei_, where is my _sister's_ lord? Where's_Sasuke?" Hanabi asked.

"_There on the ground, with his own tears made drunk_," Kakashi told her, pointing at the tuft of black hair sticking out from under the desk.

"_O, he is even in my _sister's_ case_," Hanabi said.

"_O woeful sympathy!  Piteous predicament_!" Kakashi said with a slight eye roll.

Hanabi marched over to the prostrate Uchiha. "_Stand up, stand up! Stand, an you be a man.  For _my sister's_ sake, rise and stand_!" She gave him a solid kick.

Sasuke looked up from under the desk. "Sister," he said woefully. "_Spakest thou of _Hinata_? How is it with her? What says  my conceal'd lady to our cancell'd love?_"

"_O, she says nothing, sir, but weeps and weeps,  and now falls on her bed, and then starts up  and _Neji_ calls, and then on _Sasuke_ cries,  and then down falls again_," Hanabi said, making rollercoaster motions with her hand.

"_As if that name  did murther her as that name's cursed hand  murder'd her kinsman_," Sasuke cried in anguish. He drew a kunai and stabbed it at his own chest.

In a flash, Kakashi had removed the kunai from his student's grasp. "_Hold thy desperate hand_," he said, twirling the weapon around his fingers. "_Art thou a man? Thy tears are womanish, thy wild acts denote the unreasonable fury of a beast_." He sighed and pushed Sasuke back into the chair. "_I thought thy disposition better temper'd_."

Sasuke opened his mouth defiantly, but Kakashi whirled and threw the kunai with a quick snap of the wrist. It landed between Sasuke's legs, and the boy turned ashen.

"_Thy_Hinata_ is alive, for whose dear sake thou wast but lately dead.  There art thou happy. _Neji_ would kill thee,  but thou slewest _Neji_. There art thou happy too.  The law, that threat'ned death, becomes thy friend  and turns it to exile. There art thou happy. A pack of blessings light upon thy back_," Kakashi shouted. Sasuke had never seen his sensei angry like this before, and it was sobering. "_Happiness courts thee in her best array,  but, like a misbhav'd and sullen wench,  thou pout'st upon thy fortune and thy love_."

Sasuke looked chastened, and the tears were beginning to dry on his cheeks. Kakashi softened his voice and said, "_Go get thee to thy love, as was decreed.  Ascend her chamber, hence and comfort her,  but look thou stay not till the watch be set,  for then thou canst not pass to _Suna_ where thou shalt live till we can find a time  to blaze your marriage, reconcile your friends,  beg pardon of the _Hokage_, and call thee back  with twenty hundred thousand times more joy  than thou went'st forth in lamentation_."

He clapped Sasuke on the shoulder and turned to Hanabi, who had crept closer to the door during the conversation. "_Commend me to thy lady,_" he told her with a masked smile,_ "and bid her hasten all the house to bed,  which heavy sorrow makes them apt unto. _ Sasuke_ is coming_."

Hanabi bowed to Kakashi with a poorly concealed smirk. "_O Lord, I could have stay'd here all the night  to hear good counsel. O, what learning is_!"

She turned to where Sasuke sat and bowed again. "_My lord, I'll tell my _sister_ you will come_."

Sasuke nodded, but did not raise his head. "_Do so, and bid my sweet prepare to chide_."

Hanabi opened the door, but did not exit. Instead, she turned and tossed a small item to Sasuke. It bounced off his head and rolled under the desk. "_Here is a ring she bid me give you, sir.  Hie you, make haste, for it grows very late._" The door closed with a bang as Sasuke dove off his chair and back under the desk.

He banged his head twice before appearing with a lopsided grin on his face. "_How well my comfort is reviv'd by this_!" he said, examining the ring.

Kakashi pushed his student towards the door. "_Go hence, good night. Sojourn in _Suna_. I'll find out your man, and he shall signify from time to time  every good hap to you that chances here. Farewell._"

Sasuke shuffled towards the door. "_But that a joy past joy calls out on me,  it were a grief so brief to part with thee.  Farewell_." He waved over his shoulder to his instructor before heading out the door. He didn't hear the thunk of the kunai hitting the door after it closed.

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Scene iv

-----------------------

Lee's legs bounced impatiently while he sat in the parlor in the Hyuuga house. His gaze kept straying towards the main staircase that led to the rooms on the upper level.

"_Look you, she lov'd her kinsman _Neji_ dearly,  and so did I. 'Tis very late; she'll not come down to-night.  I promise you, but for your company,  I would have been abed an hour ago_," Hiashi sighed tiredly.

Lee was crestfallen but was nonetheless understanding. "_These times of woe afford no tune to woo.  Sir, good night. Commend me to your daughter_."

Hiashi stood and stretched. "If it pleases you, I will _tell her  she shall be married to this noble _man on Thursday," he said with a smile. "Will you be ready? Do you like this haste?"

Lee looked flustered. "_My lord, I would that Thursday were to-morrow_," he said with a huge smile.

The two men shook hands and parted for the night.

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	7. Act III, Scene v: By the Book

Act III, Scene v

By the Book

(AN) This continues on from the last chapter as if Naruto's intervention between Sakura and Neji in Act II never happened. This chapter is by the book, as the bard originally wrote. Next chapter will give us the alternate ending of how things _should_ have happened. Sorry for the long wait - I thought I had already posted these chapters... (/AN)

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The sound of a heavy door slamming shut in the house woke Sasuke with a start. For a moment, he was disoriented in the unfamiliar room. He looked down at the small figure sleeping next to him, and suddenly he was dizzy with longing. He kissed her gently on the cheek, and she stirred in the silken sheets.

"My love?" she asked through sleepy eyes. Sasuke buried his face in the soft curve of her neck and began kissing his way down her body, ducking under the sheet as he went. She gasped and came fully awake.

The hours passed quickly, and soon the clock read five o'clock. Sasuke muttered a curse and began pulling on his clothing. Hinata watched from her pillow before grabbing the tail of his shirt and pulling him back towards the bed. "_Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day.  It was the nightingale and not the lark,  that pierc'd the fearful hollow of thine ear_."

"_It was the lark, the herald of the morn,  no nightingale. Look, love, what envious streaks  do lace the severing clouds in yonder East_," he said kissing her and pointing out the window. "_I must be gone and live, or stay and die_."

"_Yond light is not daylight. I know it.  It is some meteor that the sun exhales  to be to thee this night a torchbearer  and light thee on the way to _Suna_.  Therefore stay yet; thou need'st not to be gone_," she begged as she tugged at the pants he had just buttoned and buckled.

"_Let me be ta'en, let me be put to death.  I am content, so thou wilt have it so_," Sasuke said as he crawled back on top of his naked wife. "_Come, death, and welcome! _Hinata_ wills it so.  How is't, my soul? Let's talk; it is not day_." He kissed her and began pulling his shirt back over his head.

Hinata panicked, "_It is, it is! Hie hence, be gone, away!  It is the lark that sings so out of tune_." She pulled his shirt down into place and pushed him away lightly. "_O, now be gone! More light and light it grows_."

Sasuke sighed and stood up from the bed again. "_More light and light - more dark and dark our woes_!"

Without warning, the bedroom door burst open and Hanabi rushed in. She closed the door quickly and leaned against it as if she was keeping a pack of wolves at bay. "Sister!"

Sasuke had fallen over in his haste to hide when the door had opened. Hinata sat gaping on the bed with a sheet clutched to her chest. "Hanabi?"

"Our father _is coming to your chamber.  The day is broke; be wary, look about_," the girl warned breathlessly.

Hinata hastily threw a robe over her bare shoulders and hurried to where Sasuke was peering carefully out the window. "_Then, window, let day in, and let life out_."

Sasuke opened the window before turning to his wife. "_Farewell, farewell! One kiss, and I'll descend,_" he said before kissing her deeply.

Hanabi coughed from the doorway, and Sasuke broke the kiss and hauled himself up onto the roof.

Hinata leaned out the window much like she did the first night they met. Two nights ago, that is. "_Art thou gone so, my lord, my love, my friend?  I must hear from thee every day in the hour,  for in a minute there are many days_," Hinata called softly.

"_Farewell!  I will omit no opportunity  that may convey my greetings, love, to thee_," Sasuke said from the roof.

"_O, think'st thou we shall ever meet again_?" she asked in despair.

"_I doubt it not, and all these woes shall serve  for sweet discourses in our time to come_," Sasuke replied with a confident smirk.

"_O God, I have an ill-divining soul!  Methinks I see thee_ –" Hinata began to say, but at that moment, Hanabi marched over to the window and drew the curtains closed.

Hinata turned to glare at her rude, disrespectful sister, but they were interrupted by a loud knock at the door followed by Hiashi, who did not wait for a response.

"_Why, how now, _Hinata?" Hiashi asked gently.

Hinata sagged against the wall. So close… "Sir, _I am not well_," she told him weakly.

Hiashi smiled sympathetically. "_Evermore weeping for your cousin's death?  What, wilt thou wash him from his grave with tears? Some grief shows much of love,  but much of grief shows still some want of wit_." To be honest, Hiashi was a bit surprised that Hinata had cared so much for her cousin.

"_Yet let me weep for such a feeling loss_," Hinata said.

"_We will have vengeance for it, fear thou not.  Then weep no more_," Hiashi said reassuringly as he strode to the window to embrace his eldest daughter. Holding her by the shoulders, he looked down into her pale eyes. "_But now I'll tell thee joyful tidings, girl_."

"_And joy comes well in such a needy time.  What are they, I beseech your_ lordship?" Hinata asked, not quite meeting her father's eyes.

"_Well, thou hast a careful father, child.  One who, to put thee from thy heaviness,  hath sorted out a sudden day of joy  that thou expects not nor I look'd not for_," he said with a smile.

Hinata was confused. "Sir, _in happy time! What day is that_?"

"_Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn  the gallant, young, and noble gentleman, _ Rock Lee, _shall happily make thee a joyful bride_," he said, hugging her once more.

Hinata pushed away from her father as the words sunk into her troubled mind. "_I wonder at this haste, that I must wed  ere he that should be husband comes to woo_," she said, searching desperately for an excuse. "_I will not marry yet; and when I do, I swear it shall be _Sasuke_, whom you know I hate,  rather than _Lee_. These are news indeed_!"

Hiashi's eyes grew cold. "_How? Will _thou_ none? Doth _thou_ not give us thanks? _Art thou_ not proud? Doth _thou_ not count _thy_ blest,  unworthy as _thou art_, that _I_ have wrought  so worthy a gentleman to be _thy_ bridegroom_?" he demanded harshly.

"_Not proud you have, but thankful that you have.  Proud can I never be of what I hate,  but thankful even for hate that is meant love_," Hinata cried.

Hiashi grabbed his daughter roughly by the shoulders. "_Mistress minion you, thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds,  but fettle your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next  to go with _Lee_ or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither_!"

Hinata fell to her knees in the face of her father's wrath. "_Good father, I beseech you on my knees. Hear me with patience but to speak a word_," she begged through her tears.

"_Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch!  I tell thee what - get thee _hence_ a Thursday  or never after look me in the face.  Speak not, reply not, do not answer me_!" Hiashi roared, his body trembling in anger.

Hinata sank to the floor sobbing uncontrollably.

Hanabi piped up from the corner, "_God in heaven bless her!  You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so_." She had never seen her father lose control like this before.

"_Hold your tongue_!" Hiashi growled, turning his fury towards his other daughter.

Hanabi held her hands in front of her. "_I speak no treason_," she said defensively.

"_O, God-i-god-en_!" Hiashi muttered in frustration. Hanabi was concerned because her father never spoke so informally.

"_May not one speak_?" Hanabi asked insistently.

"_Peace, you mumbling fool_!" Hiashi warned her. He raised his hand to point threateningly at his youngest daughter.

"_You are too hot_," said Hanabi. She watched her father closely for signs of a heart attack or a seizure.

"_Day, night, late, early,  waking or sleeping, still my care hath been  to have her match'd_," Hiashi roared, trying in vain to rein in his temper. "_And having now provided  a gentleman of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train'd, then to have a wretched puling fool_," he pointed an accusing figure at the figure still sobbing on the floor.  "_A whining mammet, in her fortune's tender,  o answer 'I'll not wed, I cannot love.  I am too young, I pray you pardon me'_!"

His last words echoed off the walls and made even his brazen youngest daughter silent before his fury. In a lower voice tight with self control, he said, "_Thursday is near. Lay hand on heart, advise:  An you be mine, I'll give you to my friend. An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets,  for, by my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee nor what is mine shall never do thee good_." With a last silver-eyed glare, he turned and left the room.

Hanabi walked over to stand next to her sister, but did not offer comfort nor help her to her feet.

Finally, Hinata recovered enough composure to speak through her tears. "_O God! O _sister_, how shall this be prevented? Comfort me, counsel me. What say'st thou? Hast thou not a word of joy?  Some comfort, _sister," she begged from where she knelt on the floor with her hands between her knees.

Hanabi was not sure what to make of the situation. She was unused to her sister, five years the elder, reduced to such worthlessness. "_Since the case so stands as now it doth,  I think it best you married _Rock Lee_. He's a lovely gentleman. _ Sasuke is_ a dishclout to him. An eagle, _sister_,  hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye  as _Lee_ hath_," Hanabi said softly.

Hinata wiped her eyes and finally met her sister's steady gaze. Hanabi remembered the firm set of her father's mouth and knew he would not back down from his word. She must convince her sister to agree with what their father wished. "_I think you are happy in this second match,  for it excels your first. Or if it did not,  your first is dead - or 'twere as good he were  as living here and you no use of him_," Hanabi said, stroking her fingers through Hinata's short hair.

Hinata grasped her sister's hand in both of hers. "_Speak'st thou this from thy heart_?" she asked. Hanabi just nodded wordlessly. She could speak no more of these lies, for they tasted foul in her mouth. But her sister could not be allowed to throw her future away for this one, unworthy Uchiha.

Hinata stood on wobbly legs and wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her robe. "_Well, thou hast comforted me marvellous much.  Go in and tell _our father_ I am gone to the _Academy to prepare for the events this week," she said woodenly.

Hanabi did not believe this change of heart, but could think of nothing more to say. "_I will_," she told her sister before leaving the room quietly.

Hinata dressed quickly and rushed from the house before anyone could stop and question her. She hiked up her skirts and began running towards the Academy.


	8. Aci III, Scene v: Help of a Fool

Act III, Scene v

With the Help of a Fool

(AN) This scene begins exactly like the last with Sasuke and Hinata waking up together. We'll pick it up when Hiashi enters, and then bring in the fool… (/AN)

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Hinata turned to glare at her rude, disrespectful sister, but they were interrupted by a loud knock at the door followed by Hiashi, who did not wait for a response.

"_Why, how now, _Hinata?" Hiashi asked gently.

Hinata sagged against the wall. So close… "Sir, _I am not well_," she told him weakly.

Hiashi smiled sympathetically. "_Evermore weeping for your cousin's death? What, wilt thou wash him from his grave with tears? Some grief shows much of love,  but much of grief shows still some want of wit_." To be honest, Hiashi was a bit surprised that Hinata had cared so much for her cousin.

"_Yet let me weep for such a feeling loss_," Hinata said.

"_We will have vengeance for it, fear thou not.  Then weep no more_," Hiashi said reassuringly as he strode to the window to embrace his eldest daughter. Holding her by the shoulders, he looked down into her pale eyes. "_But now I'll tell thee joyful tidings, girl_."

"_And joy comes well in such a needy time.  What are they, I beseech your_ lordship?" Hinata asked, not quite meeting her father's eyes.

"_Well, thou hast a careful father, child.  One who, to put thee from thy heaviness,  hath sorted out a sudden day of joy  that thou expects not nor I look'd not for_," he said with a smile.

Hinata was confused. "Sir, _in happy time! What day is that_?"

"_Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn  the gallant, young, and noble gentleman, _ Rock Lee,_shall happily make thee a joyful bride_," he said, hugging her once more.

Hinata pushed away from her father as the words sunk into her troubled mind. "_I wonder at this haste, that I must wed  ere he that should be husband comes to woo_," she said, searching desperately for an excuse. "_I will not marry yet; and when I do, I swear  it shall be _Sasuke_, whom you know I hate,  rather than _Lee_. These are news indeed_!"

Hiashi's eyes grew cold. "_How? Will_thou_ none? Doth _thou_ not give us thanks? _Art thou_ not proud? Doth _thou_ not count _thy_ blest,  unworthy as _thou art_, that _I_ have wrought  so worthy a gentleman to be _thy_ bridegroom_?" he demanded harshly.

"_Not proud you have, but thankful that you have.  Proud can I never be of what I hate,  but thankful even for hate that is meant love_," Hinata cried.

Hiashi grabbed his daughter roughly by the shoulders. "_Mistress minion you,  thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds,  but fettle your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next  to go with _Lee_ or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither_!"

Hinata fell to her knees in the face of her father's wrath. "_Good father, I beseech you on my knees,. Hear me with patience but to speak a word_," she begged through her tears.

"_Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch!  I tell thee what - get thee _hence_ a Thursday  or never after look me in the face.  Speak not, reply not, do not answer me_!" Hiashi roared, his body trembling in anger.

Hinata sank to the floor sobbing uncontrollably.

"Oi, what's going on in there?" called a voice from outside the window.

Three pairs of silver eyes swiveled towards the open window just in time to see an orange blur come tumbling through the curtains. Hinata let out a loud gasp of surprise as the figure ripped the flowing fabric from the wall and knocked her flat on her back.

Veins stood out around Hiashi's eyes, and he stepped back into a fighting stance, ready to kill the intruder once his daughter was out of harm's reach. Hanabi had two kunai in each hand, but could not distinguish between the bodies tangled in the curtain.

A blond head finally emerged from the pool of fabric and looked around in confusion. "Where's Sasuke-teme? I thought I saw him sitting on the roof of this house," he said with his eyes scrunched in confusion. "Then I heard a girl crying."

"S-s-sasuke?" Hinata stammered as she pulled the curtain from over her head.

"You are a friend of that Uchiha?" Hiashi snarled as he slowly inched closer to the trespasser.

"Is he still here? I need to speak to him before he leaves for Suna," Naruto said.

Hiashi struck like a viper. He immobilized both of Naruto's arms before grabbing the blond by the throat to pull him close to his face. "And just why would Uchiha Sasuke be here in this house?"

"Father, no!" Hinata cried, tugging weakly on her father's arm. "Please don't kill him!"

Hiashi brushed her aside like a gnat and shook Naruto as if that would dislodge an answer from the boy. "You have three seconds to explain this intrusion before I kill you," Hiashi whispered darkly.

"Sasuke… here…," Naruto gasped, unable to form a complete sentence. His eyes began to glow with a deep red light as he clawed at the hand around his neck.

"Sasuke was here," a small voice said from the corner.

Hiashi turned his head to look at his youngest daughter out of the corner of his eye. Hinata stared at her sister with an open mouth, but she did not move or say a word.

"Sasuke was here," Hanabi continued, "because he and Hinata were married yesterday."

Hiashi's gaze swung to his other daughter, but he did not need to ask for confirmation. Her face was answer enough. His hands went slack, and Naruto fell to the floor choking for air.

"Before or after he slew our kinsman?" Hiashi asked dangerously.

"It was Neji who instigated the fight!" Naruto coughed. "He started the fight and slew Sakura-chan. His life was forfeit at that moment!"

Hiashi reached again for the blond, but Hinata spoke up, "It was before."

The older man stopped and then straightened up again. "Why did you not tell me?" he demanded softly.

"I intended to, but Neji's death complicated matters. Sasuke has been banished," Hinata explained meekly.

"An Uchiha?" Hiashi muttered, half to himself. "Where were you wed? By whom?"

"Kakashi-sensei at the Academy," Hinata said, pulled herself to her feet and wobbled to the nightstand beside the bed. She withdrew a small scroll and handed it to her father.

He took it and closed his eyes for a moment before opening the parchment and reading. Naruto tried to read over Hiashi's arm, but one withering stare sent the blond sulking back to the window.

Hiasha scanned the document twice before turning towards Hinata. "Do you love this boy?" he asked, his voice surprisingly mild.

"I do, father," Hinata said, falling to her knees with her head bowed. "I did not know he was an Uchiha until it was too late."

Hiashi pinched the bridge of his nose. "I must think on this," he said cryptically before turning abruptly and leaving the room.

Naruto ran over to where Hinata had collapsed on the floor from the tension. "You really married Sasuke?" he asked, kneeling in her face.

"She did, now get out of here!" Hanabi said sharply. She had her kunai in hand again. "How dare you enter my sister's bedchamber without permission?!"

Before Naruto could reply, Hiashi barged back into the room. "You, out," he said, stalking towards the blond.

"But my arms," Naruto protested, backing away.

"Three seconds," snarled Hiashi. Naruto turned and jumped through the window. Hanabi poked her head outside and watched the figure dart awkwardly over the wall.

She turned to see her father pause in the doorway. "With the Hokage's decree, I have been looking for a way to end our rivalry without losing face," he said, his back to the girls. And then he was gone.


End file.
